Digital Ageism in Long-Term Care

This workshop examines the wider institutional context of digital inequalities in long-term care and reflects on qualitative research conducted at five sites in Japan and Canada. We will consider how stereotypes about care home residents are reconfirmed in service policies and practices and influence the extent to which residents can access information and connect with wider social contexts. By juxtaposing two different long-term care systems we can develop insight into the ways that service design and delivery influences lived experiences in long-term care. We will also reflect on findings from digital storytelling workshops conducted in both regions to examine how age discrimination reverberates through technologies, service systems, facilitators’ expectations, and participants’ own self-perceptions. We can see through these examples how interventions aimed at resident empowerment will need to negotiate and confront forms of deep-seated ageism and social exclusion that characterize long-term care contexts. Finally, I address ways forward and the need for designated funding for basic communication services and technology support.